Potato cutter and planter



J. E. PAULSON.

POTATO CUTTER AND PLANTER.

APPLICATION FiLED1uNE23, i919.

l ,3%@6 l 3 Patented Dee. 80, 1919.

' imitan stains raraivi oFFioE.

JOHN E'. PAULSON, OF MINNEAPODS, MINNESOTA.

POTATO CUTTER AND PLANTER- ieeaeia.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be 1t known that I, JOHN 5E. lAn'LsoN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at' Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State oi )'linncsota, have invented a new and useful Potato Cutter and Planter, ot which the following' is a specification.

T his invention relates to machines for cuttiin;r and planting potatoes. It is a por.- tion ot my convertibleplanting machine illustrated and described in my application filed December 5, 1918, Serial Number 265,445, which application will herein be referred to as the complete machine77 'for several parts which it is unnecessary to repeat in each patent covering certain submechanisms thereof. b

In the pre-sent drawing Figure 1 is a plan -view of the front portion 'of the 'trame work o t the machine equipped with my improved potato cutting and planting'or dropping means. Fig. 2 .is a substantially sectional. view on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1. F 3 is a right hai'id end` View of Fig. 2 with the hopper intersected 0n the line 'Fig t is lei't side view of Fig. 3 with many parts omitted. Fig. 5 is a bottom View of the hopper frame and seed slide and other parts shown to the right but omitted to the left since both sides of the machine are alike. Fig. G is an enlarged top view of one of the members ot the' potato feeding' Slide. Fig. 7 is a side or edge view of Fig. G. Fig. En is a side view of one of the potato cutters. Fils'. 9' is a left end'view oi' Fig. 8 with a portionoi'fone ot the feeding tubes and of a' potato,supporting` shelf' in section added.

Reterrinar to the drawing by reference munerals, 10 designates the main frame, ot the machine, the same is mounted on an axle and a pair of ground wheels (shown in theu coufpletey machine) and within said frame is ti'lting'ly mounted an inner frame11, and across' the front portion of said frame 11 is secured upon spacing blocks 12, a transverse slotted frame 13 upon which two hoppers 14 are, mounted. n the longitudinal slot.

15 ot said frame is fitted a slide adapted to ieed potatoes from the hoppers into `the dropping tubes 16. Said slide comprises several parts, oiE which 12' is the main body and is toi-med vwith tivo slots or apertures middle of the slide a solid margin 19.

to the right in Fig.'

. specification of Lettersratent. Patented Dec, 30', 1919 Original application iled December 5, 1918, Serial No. 265,445.

Serial No. 306,220.

lolted loosely at Z0 underneath each end a T-shaped edge, it being composed of ay horizontal blade 27 and a vertical blade 28 dependingv therefrom, (see Figs. 8 and 9). Said blades are formed With divergiiig spring arms 2S) :struck up from the body oi' the blade and serving to prevent the out potato irom sticking orcling'ingto the faces oi the blades. The block'Ql may 4 assume a linear position to the member lor bar 21 and be dragged by it as shown by dotted lines 23 to the right in Fig. 2, but when the bar 21 is to push a potato the block 23 drops to the vertical position shown in Fig-'7, stopping); with .its shoulder() against-the bar Z1. This dropping moven'lent takes place during the reti-active movement of the bar 21., because said bar is provided 'at its under sidewith an incline 31, which then rides upon a roller 32 mounted onan arm 33 fixed at Si; to the `frame 1.3- (see Fig.

Each outer end of the slide -17` also has a solid margin (see Figa 3), into the top oi which is recessed rif-'short slide member 3G, having' a depending` curved fae 37 `by which to push the i'ipperhal't ot each-potato 'away from the top ofthe blade 27 lafter it has been cut and it is wanted tor further operation, as will presently be described. Said short 'slide 'member is adjustably secured by a screw 3S in aj slot 3 9 (best shown in Fig'. 5 l() are strips helping' to lguide and retain the slideiuthe traine; itis also guided'by the sheet n letal platesftorming the blades 2T', said plates being secured at Ll1' to the frame 'i3 together with the horizontal flanges lo ol: the dropping tubes 16. 16X are mere outlines indicating' -thelocation of each dropping tube' lf3', while thetop flanges UW ot' the tubes `may be "square or of any other suitable foru-i.

rlhe slide 17 may be reeiprocated by any suitable means. but in the- 'present illustra- `tion the slideis shown as provided with a bift'urcated arm 42, in the slot 43 4of which ice operates the crau; ot a crank shaft 45, journaled in a bearing 46, and another' bearing (not shown) and is rotated by a bevel gear 47 having operative connection with one oi the ground wheels, as fully shown in the complete machine first above referred to.-

48 is pole by which the machine is-drawn` In each side ol each hopper' is attached by hinges 49 a false side member 50, which is provided with a standing bolt 5l extending loosely through the real side of the hopper and through a bracket 52 secured at the outside thereof and between said real side and bracket is threaded upon the bolt a gnarled nut 53, the turning of which will close the false side pieces more or lesstogether with their lower edges so as to guide small or large potatoes into a center-linear position of the slots in the slide and, the cutting edges oi' the cutters.

When a potato drops down into said slot it lands upon the bottom 54 of a short horizontal chute 55, which chute is secured upon horizontal bars 56,`hav1ng slotted vertical arms 57, vguided in recesses in the frame 13 and secured thereto by screws 5S, said arms and the trame having scale marks 59 to indi cate the raised or lowered position of the chute according as 'small or large potatoes are operated on.

ln Fig. 5 is shown that each chute has I only a small portion 5441 ot its bottom resting directly on the bars 56, the rest of the bottom rests on blocks 6() inserted between l the bars and the thinner portion 6l o the bottom. Said parts are secured together by screws 62. ln the spaces thus formed between the parts 54e, 56, 60 and 6l is slide ably inserted a iat strip G3, whose middle portion has an aperture loosely tted upon a stud 64 depending from the slide portion l9fand having horizontal pins 65, 66 spaced above and below the strip to allow it to rise and fall with the adjustment or the chutes, without allowing it to spring too much up and `down so it might become disengaged from the stud.

The mechanism driving the shaft e5, and which is fully shown and described in the complete machine, is so constructed that as a rule it imparts but half a turn to the shaft at a time and then lets the slide rest at each of its endwisc movements until the dropped seed is by a certain valve dropped out of the tube, but when so desired the slide may also i be kept in constant motion.

In further describing the operation of this device it may be stated that a lot ot either small, medium or large size potatoes, P, is placed in the hoppers, and the false side pieces' 50, the slide members 3G and the high or low position of the chute regulated accordingly. j

As the machine is then drawn along the ield and the shaft l5 rotated thereby, each potato dropping into each chute, as P1, to the lett in Fig. 2, is pushed by the block or head 23 against the adjacent cutter blades and is thereby cut into three pieces (see Fig. 9 and to the right in Fig. 2). The upper piece, P2, is one haltl of the potato, the lower half is in that operation cut into two quarters, of which the quarter P3 drops at once into the tube 16, but .the quarter P drops.

quarters by the blade 2S and be dropped one quarter at a timejust the same as the first two' quarters of that potato. rlhe next movement of the slide causes the last quarter of the first potato to drop into the tube 167V and a second potato to drop into the chute.v The next or fifth movement of the slide `ca-uses the second potato to be cut in three,

and one quarter of it to be dropped, and so on and in like manner in each side of the machine as long as desired. By applying the speed changing means shown in the complete machine the slide will work at dif ierent speeds and thus plant the potatoes at different distances apart in each row.

ln machines of this kind the potatoes have a tendency to clog and thus not pass each time down from the hopper. To overcome such tendency l have provided for a rising and falling movement of the head 23 and l the end olf the slide member carrying said head. Such movement l have found very efl'ective to prevent clogging` l/Vhat I claim is.

l. In a potato planting machine and mounted in a trame adapted to be drawn over a field, a pair of seed dropping tubes spaced so as to plant two rows at a time, a feed slide extending across the 'frame -and means for reciprocating said slide, a potato hopper mounted o\"er each seeding tube and adjacent end portion of the slide, said slide having near each end an aperture for the potatoes to drop into 'from the adjacent hopper, a horizontal chute below said aperture and connected to the frame, a potato cutting device lixed on the frame above each dropping-tube, and -nzeans carried by the slide for pushing each potato along the. chute and against thecutting device.

i2. The'siructure spcoiiicd in claim l, said cuttingdevice havinga T-shaped cuttingl edge and said chute being adjustable up and down so as to cause the upper hah of each rarily retaining one ofthe quarters from dropping Vinto the tube, means for remov# ingsaidquarter from the shelf during a `retractive movement of the slide, and means on the slide for moving said half potato from the' top'oil the .cutter into the c llute y during said retract-ive movement.

3. The structure specified in claim l, said means for pushing the potato along in the chute consisting of a flat arm hingedly attached With one end to the slide so as to `means for holding said block in vertical position as long as it is to push a potato toward and against the cutting device but not during the retractive movement of the slide.

5. In a notato cutting device, cutting blades having lateral inclined at spring arms extending at each side from points rearward of the cutting edge and slanting outward to points still farther rearward.

6. The structure specified in claim 5, said spring arms being struck up from the blades carrying them.

7. The structure specified in claim l, said hoppers having inwardly adjustable false side pieces adjacent the apertures in the slide and means for reffnlatinff said *false pieces.

8. The structure specified in claim il. and endl members slidably secured on the slide for reducing' the length of each aperture in the slide when so desired.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

JOI-IN E. PAULSON. 

